


Promises To Keep

by Lapin



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-04
Updated: 2011-06-04
Packaged: 2017-10-20 02:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/207903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapin/pseuds/Lapin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Come Hell, high water or pissed off natives, Lorne and his team will always come for Parrish. Lorne will always, always come for Parrish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promises To Keep

**Author's Note:**

> A/N I like to believe that in a universe where we step through wormholes to far off galaxies, we lifted the ban entirely in the 90s instead of hedging with DADT.
> 
> Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise and express no claims or rights over it or the characters.

-

 

Sheppard had Parrish.

This irritated Lorne.

A lot.

“Sir, he said he was just borrowing him.” Reed said, obviously trying to be helpful. Lorne glared at him, but Reed just shuffled a bit in the co-pilot's seat and held his ground.

“I'm not sure I understand what you're referring too, lieutenant.” He replied sharply. Coughlin sighed in the back. “Problem back there?”

“Sir, Parrish can handle himself. I'm sure the Colonel will keep him from doing anything...” Coughlin trailed off.

“Parrish-like.” Reed filled in.

“Yeah, Parrish-like. He's used to keeping McKay out of trouble. You know Parrish is much better behaved on-world. He's stopped touching stuff without asking at least, most of the time.” That was the wrong thing to say and judging from the look Reed shot the cringing Coughlin, they both realized it.

“Do you know which team has the highest incident rate in this entire expedition?” Lorne asked, with a steel edge in his voice that had both men recoiling.

“The Colonel's?” Reed asked. “But to be fair sir, that team takes some of the riskiest missions, especially since they have Dex and Emmagan acting as emissaries between them and unknown locals. The fact that they've only lost one man from the team is very-” Maybe he noticed the way Lorne's knuckles were whitening on the controls, or maybe he heard himself talking, but he stopped there.

“I'm sure Parrish will be just fine sir.” Coughlin reassured him, giving Reed a dirty look. “We'll get home, they'll already be there. We'll have dinner with Parrish, and in five minutes, Reed will threaten to duct tape his mouth shut because he'll be so damn excited about some tree he found that can cure cancer. Just like any other mission sir.”

“That cactus he found did heal up the rash from that poison ivy crap I walked through.” Reed commented. “Made my legs smell like ass though.”

“How is that different from any other day?” Coughlin asked innocently, earning himself a smack. A good-natured fight resulted, but Lorne ignored it in favor of the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. Parrish would be just fine, he told himself. Parrish was going to be waiting in the jumper bay for them, all smiles and giddiness, talking a mile a minute about whatever fascinating flora he'd found wherever Sheppard had dragged him off too.

He hadn't even asked, just come into the mess, and grabbed Parrish, with a smirking, “I'll return him in a few hours, promise,” thrown over his shoulder. Parrish had turned and looked at Lorne helplessly before he was dragged out, but it wasn't like Lorne could do anything. Sheppard was in charge, and if he wanted to just up and steal away Lorne's scientist, Lorne couldn't exactly challenge him to a duel.

So he'd just finished breakfast and taken his team on their supply run sans Parrish, to the disappointment of the locals. Parrish was everyone's best friend in the villages, always having enthusiastic conversations with them about farming techniques and trait selection. It was normally at that point that Reed and Coughlin looked like they wanted to shoot themselves in the head, but Lorne liked having good relations with the natives, so they all sucked it up and found something to occupy themselves with until Parrish could tear himself away. Sometimes Lorne had to forcibly tear him away with a well-meaning hand on the elbow and a friendly good-bye to the natives, but none ever seemed to take it the wrong way.

“The doctor isn't with you Major?” The elder had asked, looking over Lorne's shoulder like Parrish could possibly be hiding somewhere. “Is he well?”

“He's fine.” He had ground out, and the elder had dropped the subject with an odd look, but that didn't mean every other person in the damn place hadn't asked. It had done nothing to improve Lorne's mood, and now, flying home, Reed and Coughlin had finally decided to bring it up and just make it worse. Lorne knew Parrish could handle himself, but that didn't mean he liked knowing Parrish was off somewhere with reckless Sheppard without Lorne to keep him safe.

Lorne went through the motions of contacting Atlantis, getting clearance, landing the jumper, and separating Reed and Coughlin, but his heart wasn't in it. His stomach was in knots, and it just got worse when all three of them realized that Parrish wasn't there. Sighing, he tapped his comm.

“Please respond, Botany Department.” He said.

“Dr. Thomas Green here.” Green was another botanist, not as high as Parrish.

“Dr. Green, this is Major Lorne. Has Dr. Parrish checked in yet?”

“No Major Lorne, not yet.”

“Fuck,” He swore, after turning off his comm. “They were due back before us, I checked.” He said.

“We need to go get Parrish?” Reed asked.

“Let me talk to Woolsey first, make sure there hasn't been a delay. There could be a legitimate reason for why Sheppard is two hours overdue.” Lorne said.

“And there could also be a city of mermaids living beneath Atlantis.” Reed replied. “Sir.” He added, as an afterthought.

“Reed has a point sir.” Coughlin agreed.

Lorne sighed, nodded, and went to find Woolsey.

Twenty minutes later, he, Reed, Coughlin, and Cadman's team went through the gate to find/save Sheppard's team.

They found McKay and Emmagan first, on the outskirts of the village, both looking extremely frustrated.

“Where's Parrish?” He asked. Dex and Sheppard being taken hostage he could understand, they tended to piss people off, but Parrish made friends as easily as a golden retriever in a kindergarten class. Unless they'd decided to keep Parrish for other purposes, and his brain was all too happy to supply him with all sorts of unhelpful suggestions of “other purposes”.

“Col. Sheppard, Ronon, and Dr. Parrish are being held in the village center,” Emmagan answered, putting emphasis on the other two names, as though had completely forgotten about them. He hadn't, not at all, but those two were perfectly capable of saving themselves, and Parrish needed Lorne. That was his job damn it, keeping Parrish safe, and if he didn't get Parrish back to Atlantis safe and sound, he'd have failed. The thought of not having Parrish anymore, not listening to his endless chatter about gymnosperms and fertilization processes, not having his general peacefulness, or his uncanny ability to make even the weirdest village fall completely in love with him, was more than Lorne could take. His team didn't work without Parrish.

“Why were they taken? What did those two do?”

“Oh nice, you just assume it was Ronon or-” McKay started, his frustration changing to fury in a heartbeat, but Lorne cut him off, addressing Emmagan again.

“What happened?”

“The Colonel and Ronon seem to have offended the local wise men by bringing weapons into the village. It goes against their culture, apparently, and is considered a show of hostility.” She said. “They are a non-violent people, and I have never had need to carry weapons here. I had not realized it was even against their laws.”

“Then why was Parrish taken too?” He demanded. Parrish never carried weapons unless he had to, and even then, he was never armed like a soldier.

“He was carrying a set of knives in his supplies-” She said.

“His tools?” Reed asked, and Lorne remembered the little roll-up kit Parrish always had, full of scalpels and cutters for sample-taking. To a bunch of backwater, uneducated villagers, they could have looked dangerous. “Did they hurt Parrish?”

“I do not know. Since we were with them, we have not been able to re-enter the village to get to them. We were permitted to leave, but the offense is shared.” Damn it, Parrish could be tied to a stake right now, and no one would know. “Major, I do not believe they intend any physical harm to any of them. They are not known for it. And they as a village are mostly unarmed and defenseless.” Lorne had already taken that into account, but it was good to have it confirmed. He wasn't the kind of officer who was okay with harming unarmed civilians.

“If I went in and grovelled, do you think I could get them released?” He asked. Sheppard was priority at this point, he reminded himself. After him was Parrish, much as that made him ache. Dex, though Lorne seriously doubted he needed saving, was third. Unless someone was injured, and god, he had not needed to consider that.

“They are not unreasonable.” Emmagan said. Lorne nodded and cemented Plan A in his head.

 

“Cadman,” She turned to him, “Take your team and enter, slowly. I want a secure perimeter with no surprise guests, understand? You are not to be seen.” She nodded, and her three followed her, disappearing into the night. He was glad he'd told them to wear stealth gear and not the normal BDUs, otherwise he'd have a hell of a harder time figuring out Plan B. “Reed, Coughlin, back to the jumper. McKay, you're with them. Get above the center with cloaking on. You are not to be seen unless it looks like I need a rescue.” He started shedding weapons. “Take all of this back too.” He felt naked without any weapons, but he wanted to try diplomacy first. “Emmagan, I want you on watch. If it looks like they're going to kill me, Cadman is in charge.”

“Surely it would be better if I accompanied you Major.”

“They're not letting you back in Emmagan, you said so yourself. Anything else I need to know about these people?”

“I don't believe so.”

“Good.” He started walking towards the settlement, the knot in his stomach tighter than ever. He was positive that he could at least explain away Parrish's tool kit, and get him out. He was not an acceptable loss, not in any solar system. Sheppard either, he reminded himself. He was his CO, no matter how pissed he was right now, and he was a good one.

“Stop.” A voice called out, so he did, putting his hands up and dropping to his knees. “Name yourself!”

“Major Evan Lorne, of Atlantis. I am unarmed. I want to parlay for my people.” Two gruff-looking men approached him and hauled him to his feet, while a third searched him, patting him down and reaching into his pockets, even sliding his hands under Lorne's vest.

“You are not lying. You may enter.” The two men released him and the third led him into the village. The buildings were curiously close together and thick-walled, some kind of mud used as building material. The roofs weren't thatch, but mats of some kind, with visible pipes that probably worked as some kind of chimney. He didn't see any animals, but he could smell them, and hear the chickens, at least. The ground beneath his feet made an odd sound at certain points, and he realized halfway through that there were some kind of tunnels beneath it. If he had to guess, they were probably an labyrinth, connecting all the houses, likely leading off to the hills. A good strategy for Wraith attacks, especially if you were a pacifist society that allowed no weapons.

The lights got closer, as they approached the village center, but it was quiet, frighteningly so. Quiet was just as bad as rioting in his experience.

The villagers all parted for his guide, until he was in the center, facing a group of old men and women, all with long gray hair in dreadlocks and braids, the firelight catching on the grooves in their faces, and at least one blind, to judge by the milky color of his eyes that the light highlighted.

“Major Lorne, fancy meeting you here.” His CO's voice came from beside him He turned, and his breath caught. Sheppard was in a set of stocks, and Parrish and Dex were bound, on their knees in front of some very large and intimidating men. Parrish was bleeding sluggishly from a wound on his forehead, and he was pale and drawn. Sheppard and Dex looked pretty roughed up too, but they could take it. Parrish had probably never been hit in his life. Don't overreact, he told himself. He had to stay calm, or he was never getting Parrish out of here. Priority had shifted now, that was for sure.

“You come here with no weapons and humility. We will hear you.” One said.

“I'm sorry my people offended you,” He started, and dropped to his knees again for good measure, inclining his head. They liked humility, he'd give them humility. He'd offer them his own soul at this point. “They had no intention of doing so. But please, you must understand, the doctor was not carrying weapons. Please give me custody of him so that I can get him help.” One of the elders reached beside him and threw whatever was sitting there to Lorne. It was Parrish's kit.

“What do you call those then?” The blind one demanded.

“The doctor uses these for plants, to take samples. He has never harmed anyone with them, and he never would.”

“You swear on your own life?” The elder asked.

“I do.” He said, standing.

“This matches that one's words.” An old woman nodded at Sheppard. “We did not trust his explanations though. You have come respectfully though.” They motioned for Parrish's bonds to be cut. He was lifted to his feet and taken to Lorne, falling against him like he couldn't support himself. “You okay?” Parrish huffed against his shoulder, warm breath a relief.

“Uh-uh.” He muttered. “My head. My arm. I think my arm is broken.” Lorne moved his hands down both arms, and Parrish hissed when he touched his left forearm. There was a lump under the skin that made Lorne's heart stop.

“Okay, okay, we're going to get you home.” He promised.

“Do you have such explanations for your other friends?” Another elder asked.

“I'm afraid that we must be cautious now. The Wraith are everywhere, and there are many who would harm us to gain favor. Not that we would think that of you, but we have to be very careful. We've been betrayed before. We're just as frightened of losing our people as you are. Not only that, we had no idea it would offend you. If we had known your laws, we would never have presumed to violate them so badly.” The old woman nodded, but he wasn't sure what that meant.

“The Satedan you may have back. But your other man,” She gestured at Sheppard, “He has not been apologetic. He has mocked our customs, mocked our gods, and insulted us beyond measure.” Lorne glared at his commander, and Sheppard shrugged sheepishly. Dex's bonds were cut as well, and he was escorted forward by men as big as him.

“What justice do you want?” Lorne asked, praying this wouldn't come to blows, no matter what his paranoia said. Atlantis did not need a reputation for cruelty, not if they wanted to be able to keep peaceful negotiations going. It only took one village, one unnecessary death, and it would undo all of the good will they'd built up. He glanced at Sheppard, and his CO made an assenting gesture. He understood the dilemma then, and if their justice was reasonable, he was giving consent.

“Your man will serve a day in the stocks. And then he will be escorted to the edge of the village, where one of you must take custody of him. He will no longer be welcome in our home.” The blind one decreed. “We will trade with you, Atlantis, out of need for help and allies. But you will respect us and our ways.” Lorne nodded, and looked at Sheppard for his assent. He nodded, agreeing to what the people asked for. A day in the stocks was a cakewalk compared to what the both of them had been through.

“Will he be harmed?” He asked. The woman's face twisted like she'd been insulted.

“We harm none.” Lorne bowed his head respectfully, even if his inside voice was calling her a hypocrite, because Parrish's arm hadn't broken on its own.

“Of course, I'm sorry for the insult. We'll return tomorrow at sunset for him. Thank you for your mercy.” Dex made an angry sound beside him, but Sheppard shook his head, so he stayed quiet. “Do we have permission to leave?”

“You may go.” She said, so Lorne turned before she changed her mind, Parrish's good arm over his shoulder.

“Come on buddy, let's get you home and patched up.”

“M'kay.” He muttered, his head lolling forward. Lorne struggled for a few steps with him, but Parrish was too tall and lanky for him to do it alone.

“Dex, help me out here, please.” The tall man looked down at him for a minute before crouching down in front of them. Lorne understood what he meant to do and helped settle Parrish onto his back. “Hey, buddy, you gotta hold on, alright?” He clasped Parrish's right hand to his left wrist, trying to situate the left so the bone didn't shift. “You just hold on tight, can you do that?” Parrish nodded, conscious, even if he was out of it.

“You left Sheppard.” Dex said, when they were out of the village.

“The Colonel will be fine until tomorrow. Parrish needs medical attention now.” He tapped his comm. “This is Major Lorne. Everyone pull out now. Do not be seen. The Colonel is still being held, but only until sunset tomorrow. We are establishing a base camp for the night and collecting him then. I want everyone back where we started, ASAP.” Emmagan joined them as they marched for the landing site, Dex explaining the situation to her while Lorne came up with the rest of the plan.

“So what now sir?” Cadman asked, looking up. “Oh Jesus, is Parrish alright?”

“He'll be fine.” Lorne assured her, even though his own heart was in his throat. He was just so pale, the wound on his head dark with blood, rivulets of it dried on his face, every movement from Dex jostling his arm and making him whimper. “We need to get him back to Atlantis. Your team, plus Emmagan, Reed and Coughlin are to stay here until sunset. The Colonel will be brought to the edges. Whoever collects him has to go unarmed. We don't know how they'll react to a big group, so only two of you are to be visible. Keep the jumper cloaked at all times. We want no civilian causalities.” He'd of liked to take the jumper himself, so that Parrish's arm wasn't jostled anymore, but it was too risky to leave people here without some kind of firepower or emergency escape route. “Reed, call ahead for medical.”

“Yes sir.” They chorused. Lorne was torn between staying and going back, but with Sheppard here, he needed to be in Atlantis in case of emergency. He was able to alleviate his guilty conscience with that fact, because he mainly wanted to go back to make sure Parrish was okay. He wouldn't be happy until he was lying in a bed in the medical ward, under the doctor's careful eye. Still, if it wasn't Sheppard back there, he would have had a hard time forcing himself to hand over Parrish to Reed or Coughlin.

“Dex, McKay, you're with me.” He would have left Dex too for back-up, but there was no way he could carry Parrish by himself all the way to the gate.

“Are we seriously just leaving Sheppard?!” McKay demanded. Lorne's temper was near snapping, but he kept himself calm, reminding himself that if it had been one of his men, he'd of been just as uneasy, if not less vocal and irritating.

“The Colonel isn't in danger. They want him to sit in the stocks for a day and think about what a bad boy he's been. And if he'd kept his mouth shut like Dex here, he wouldn't even have to do that. We couldn't afford to fight, and Parrish needs help, so the Colonel agreed. Either stay here or start walking, but we are not risking our situation anymore by making them angry. No one is to approach that village until sunset.”

Dex thankfully agreed with him. He had been a soldier, Lorne had heard, and he was logical. He knew Lorne was right, even if he didn't like it. It wasn't like Lorne liked this much either.

“Hey Parrish,” Reed said, touching him on the shoulder. Parrish made a humming noise. “Yeah, that's a real nice one there buddy. Can't you stay out of trouble for a day?” Parrish made another humming noise, this one negative sounding, so Coughlin and Reed laughed, seemingly reassured that Parrish was going to be fine.

“Let's get moving.” Lorne ordered, and Dex followed, the little whimpers from Parrish starting up again, twisting up Lorne's insides. McKay grumbled and swore, but came too, after Emmagan said something. He swore and ranted under his breath the whole way, but Lorne couldn't care less as he took point, P90 held ready. He had Parrish back, that was what was important, and now Parrish needed Lorne to get him to safety.

In the gate room, doctors were waiting with a gurney. They took Parrish gently, one holding his head so it didn't flop when they laid him down on the gurney, another tsking as they inspected his arm. Under the lights, he looked even worse, his face pale with a faint green cast, like he'd been sick, and the blood on his face even more pronounced.

Lorne had to force himself not to follow them and hover over Parrish. Instead, he went and did his job, while all of Atlantis waited on tenterhooks for word. Lorne cared about his CO, really, he did, but his mind was still with Parrish, and he was angry at Sheppard for putting him at risk, and getting him hurt. It never would have happened if he'd been with Lorne, if Lorne had been there to watch his back.

After a couple of hours, he went down to medical.

Parrish was asleep, a bandage on his head and his arm set in a soft cast. His color was better, which did wonders for the knots in Lorne's stomach, and he didn't seem to be in any pain now, at least, to go by the morphine drip beside the bed.

“Major?” Dr. Nguyen came from around a corner. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” He said.

“Just came to check on him then?” She asked, smiling. “He's just fine now. Head wounds bleed a lot, you know that. It was pretty shallow actually, and he was only a little concussed from the blow. There's no lasting damage.”

“And his arm?”

“Just a minor break. It looked worse than it was. Other than some superficial bruising, that's all there was.” Lorne was able to breathe easier, at least, with this information. Parrish was okay, just fine. Lorne had succeeded in that at least. “Do you want to sit with him for a bit? He won't wake up until morning, but it always makes loved ones feel better if they can see them.” She walked away before he could correct her. And even if she was wrong, it did make Lorne feel better to sit beside him and keep vigil. There was no danger here in Atlantis, and Parrish was perfectly safe now. If anyone really needed him, it was Reed and Coughlin. But they could take care of themselves, and if they were here in his place, they'd do the same thing for Parrish. He was important to all three of them.

For a couple of hours, he just dozed a little, not truly asleep, but enough so to rest himself a bit, or at least he thought so. When the sun shone through the windows, he opened his eyes fully and realized that the stress of the day had taken its toll and he had fallen asleep.

Parrish was looking at him.

He wasn't lying in the bed anymore, but sitting cross-legged on it, obviously having been up and about already.

“Good morning Major.” He greeted softly.

“Morning Parrish,” He returned, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Except for the bandage, he looked better, much better, than he had last night. “How do you feel?”

“Light-headed, but okay. Where are Reed and Coughlin?”

“Keeping the Colonel out of trouble, hopefully. The village is holding him until sunset. He insulted them?” Parrish nodded.

“He called them some names after they confiscated my kit. That's when Ronon got rough, and then they fought back. I hit my head on something.” He pointed to his injury. “It knocked me down, and somehow my arm got broken in the melee.” He smiled, for some reason. “Then everything went fuzzy until you showed up.”

“You know I'll always come for you Parrish.” He said. Parrish's eyes widened, just a little, and Lorne realized what he'd said. “Reed, Coughlin and I would take on Wraith for you. We're sure as hell going to come drag you out of some backwoods village.” The damage was done though, and Parrish just picked at his blanket awkwardly, avoiding Lorne's eyes. “I'd better go. I'm in charge with Sheppard gone.” It was as good an excuse as any, and it was true, so he got up to leave. He was halfway across the room before he stopped and looked back at him, but Parrish was resolutely staring at his lap. So he kept walking.

There actually was a lot of work to do on Atlantis, no matter how bored Sheppard tried to seem, and it kept Lorne distracted, sort of, mostly, until sunset on the other world came. Not an hour later, the teams came through the gate, with a sunburned but unharmed Sheppard. Reed and Coughlin waited all of a minute to be debriefed before taking off to the medical wing to check on Parrish for themselves, Cadman following soon after. Parrish and her had always been friendly, in that opposites attract kind of way.

Lorne wanted to go be with his team, but he didn't have that luxury just yet. He instead went with Sheppard back to his office, but was only halfway through informing him of the day's events and the reports that needed signing before Sheppard interrupted.

“How long are you going to be mad at me?”

“Sir?” He asked.

“I'm surprised you haven't taken a swing at me. Hell, Coughlin and Reed looked mutinous back there. Is Parrish alright?”

“He's fine sir.” He was just fine, Lorne reminded himself. Except Lorne wasn't sure he could look him in the face just yet, not after today's slip up.

“Look, Lorne, I never meant to put him in danger like that. You know I didn't.”

“But you did.” He said. “Sir.” He waited for a minute to see if he'd be reprimanded, but Sheppard was waiting for him to finish. “Parrish is not combat-trained sir. He's a botanist. He's never held a gun in his life, much less an actual weapon like they thought. He's never even been to a hostile planet, except once, and even then, he was never injured because I-”

“Protected him.” Sheppard finished. Lorne swallowed nervously as he realized he'd laid all his cards on the table, in front of his CO nonetheless. “Are you involved with Parrish, Major?”

“No sir.” He answered honestly.

“Are you in love with Parrish, Major?” Sheppard didn't drop his gaze, and Lorne, for his part, didn't flinch.

“Yes sir.” He said. “But it's never effected my judgment. You can ask Reed and Coughlin. I treat Parrish like I treat the rest of the team, and if you were in danger back there sir, we were prepared to get you out. Parrish was injured though, so he was the priority. It had nothing to do with my feelings sir.” This was also true, and Lorne knew it. Parrish had been his priority back there, but only because of the blood. If he'd been fine and Sheppard injured, Lorne would have shoved his own heart to the back burner and gotten Sheppard out instead. He'd made the right call this time. Sheppard nodded, like he agreed.

“Parrish isn't military. And if I started enforcing the rules for fraternization now, well,” He stopped and didn't finish. Lorne knew why; Sheppard hated hypocrites. “I can't expect a bunch of people stranded in another galaxy to not...you know. But you cannot let this get out of hand Lorne, even though I know I don't need to tell you that. You're a good officer, and I know you'll always make the best call. You handled it well back there.” He sighed. “Your team is grounded for five days, unless I need extra hands. Parrish will be good to go by then, right?” Lorne nodded.

“Thank you sir.” Sheppard dismissed him with a wave of his hand, leaving Lorne at a loss for what to do. Without Parrish, there really wasn't much to occupy his team beyond some well-needed R&R, which he knew Reed and Coughlin would appreciate. It had been nothing but constant missions for them for awhile now, Parrish's value as a botanist with gate clearance being high. They were always having to cement relations and visit agricultural sites.

Parrish could finally catalog his latest finds, like he'd been saying he needed to do for weeks. He had volunteered to help, he remembered. Because he was stupidly in love with Parrish and listening to him talk about plants was actually kind of soothing. It had certainly put Coughlin to sleep on more than one occasion, and hadn't that been startling, that discovery.

Lorne had only had Parrish on his team for a week before another sleepless night had come and he'd found himself wandering into the botany labs, only to find Parrish wide awake, observing some kind of flowering vine with a peaceful smile on his face. So he'd walked in, and Parrish had regaled him with the story of it, and how it only bloomed at three in the morning once every fifteen days, the exact lunar cycle of its planet, and it bloomed in steadily lighter shades of blue every time.

He'd fallen asleep on the bench, with something like honeysuckle scenting the air and Parrish's gentle voice explaining the life cycle of angiosperms in his ears.

Parrish was there all the time it seemed, and Lorne had made a bad habit of coming to him when he couldn't sleep after that. Only one night he came and found Coughlin already there, dozing on the floor, in the dirt, as Parrish talked.

“He says he sleeps better in here.” Parrish confided, looking at the man fondly.

“I do too.” He confessed, making Parrish smile at him, open and happy, and his heart had climbed into his throat at the expression. That was when he knew he was in trouble, big trouble. But he kept coming back, and sometimes he came just because he felt like it. Then he and Parrish could talk. Parrish told him about his parents, a hard-nosed colonel and a strict marine biologist, both of whom looked upon his career with something like derision.

“Botany is one of the oldest sciences.” Parrish said. “It's one of the first things we as humans really studied. And it's kind of fallen out of fashion, because it's not a very exciting science anymore, not like physics.”

“Why'd you choose it then?” Lorne thought he kind of already knew though, from the way Parrish touched the plants.

“The first time I went in a greenhouse, I was in love.” He said.

In return, Lorne told him about his own parents, his dad enlisted and Army, embarrassed and proud of his son at the same time. His mom, who'd done odd jobs all his life to make ends meet.

“My father was Navy.” Parrish had confided, when Lorne confessed that he'd gone Air Force partly out of spite, and also because he was just too smart for the Army. That had really made Lorne laugh, trying to imagine a Navy man sharing genetics with Parrish, who practically photosynthesized and grew roots.

He even talked about Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Parrish never asked him how he felt, just listened. Lorne hadn't realized how badly he needed someone to just do that, and nothing else. Here, in the middle of the night in a greenhouse, it was finally easy to talk about things. Or maybe it was just Parrish. Sometimes he thought that Reed and Coughlin also talked to him, about their own pasts, their own nightmares, but if they did, Parrish never told. Some nights were really good, if all of them ended up down there, because then Coughlin would put his skill set to use and go get them some beer, stealthily lifted from someone else's secret stash, and they would sit around and talk and try to help Parrish, but mainly get in the way.

If they were drinking, Lorne could be friendly, could grab Parrish around his middle and drag him away from whatever was holding his attention and make him play poker with them, or open the top windows so they could look at stars. Reed and Coughlin inevitably always fell asleep first, giving him time to just look at Parrish and talk to him, knowing his team was safe.

Nights when it was just Parrish and him were nice too though. They were a little too nice, and more than once, Lorne had to stop himself from doing something completely inappropriate, like put his head down in Parrish's lap, or put an arm around him. He was just drawn to him, desperate to bask in his light and affection. No one had ever been so gentle to Lorne, so quiet and soft, and he'd never even known he wanted it until now. He'd never wanted anyone like he wanted Parrish.

That night, he probably could have slept, but he went to Parrish anyway.

“Major, I wasn't expecting you tonight.” He said, barely glancing up from what he was doing. He smiled at him though, so Lorne knew he wasn't unwelcome. “I'm almost done here actually.”

“I'll wait then.” He said, and sat down on his normal bench. Parrish was working one-handed for the most part, taking down notes. “I didn't know you could write with your right hand too.”

“Mm-hmm. I'm ambidextrous. I taught myself in middle school, when I broke my arm for the first time.” That actually surprised Lorne, but maybe it shouldn't have. Parrish had been a little concussed at the village, but he hadn't seemed shocked by the pain.

“How'd you do that?” He expected a story like the one he had about how he broke his leg when he was twelve, but Parrish didn't answer for a long moment.

“It's not a funny story.” Parrish said. “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“I've told you a lot of unfunny stories.” The one about how he'd been shot three times in the leg in Afghanistan was a really unfunny one. The village he'd had to search after the Apaches had been through. There were worse ones too, that Parrish had absorbed with ease. He could hear Parrish's nightmares too.

“My mother broke it when I was eleven.”

Lorne had no idea what to say to that for a few minutes, so he kept quiet while he tried to think of what he actually wanted to say. It occurred to him that this was the first time Parrish had told him something painful about himself. Up until now, his stories had been happy ones, to contradict the awful things Lorne confessed to him. He trusted Lorne enough now.

“Why?” He settled on the most obvious question, because he genuinely wanted to know what would make someone want to hurt Parrish, who didn't even swat at bugs. And now he wondered if that was why Parrish was so non-violent.

“I don't even remember now. I did a lot of things to make her angry in those years Major. That was the only time she broke a bone though, I admit.”

“And your dad?”

“He was away a lot. Sometimes he was off at sea for months, doing who-knows-what. When he was home, she was better. Or maybe she was just afraid of what he would do if he knew. I don't know. Maybe he wouldn't have cared.” Parrish didn't sound exactly troubled over this, just resigned. “I received a scholarship to Connecticut College when I turned eighteen, and I never lived with them again. I got my master's in Hawaii, and my doctorate in Norway. I spent summers on research trips, unless I knew he would be there. I don't know why. At that age, she couldn't really hurt me any more.” He was right, and Lorne knew it. Parrish was an adult now, and he'd obviously moved on from the monsters in his closet. Lorne still wanted to fight them for him though.

“Did your dad ever know?” Parrish shrugged. “Does he have any idea what you do now?”

“Vaguely. His clearance is very high, so he knows I work for SGC now. He doesn't know about Atlantis. He'd be very happy for me if he did though. He loves the ocean.” Parrish put his pen down, and put the papers in some kind of basket. His organization system made no sense to Lorne, but it worked for him.

“All done?” Parrish settled beside him with a sigh.

“You can call me David, you know.” He said, not looking at Lorne. “Calling me Parrish just seems so impersonal.” Parrish's shoulder was touching his, just barely, a whisper of cotton against cotton, Parrish's shirt an old brown one with two handprints on it and “Play In The Dirt” written across the chest in green letters, Lorne's an old dark blue one with the Air Force wings on the breast and the back.

“You always call me Major.” He pointed out, stalling. He wasn't sure calling Parrish David was such a good idea for him. They were already too close, or not close enough. Lorne couldn't tell anymore.

“I wasn't sure you wanted me to call you Evan.” He replied. “Can I call you Evan?” His face was tilted towards Lorne, very, very close, and their fingers were definitely touching now, most decidedly on purpose. Not close enough, he decided, right then and there. Parrish was under his skin, in his heart and mind, probably for good, and it was time he stopped fighting it.

“Yeah.” He answered, and leaned sort of up so that they were kissing, for the first time. Parrish made a surprised sound, but leaned down so that they were really kissing, softly, trying it out. It was good, Lorne decided, reaching up to touch Parrish's face. It was really, really good. It was exactly what he wanted now, what he was always going to want, a gentle botanist who never asked for more than he could give, and always gave more than Lorne could ever ask for.

“Oh shit!” Someone swore, making them spring apart. Reed was in the doorway, a hand over his eyes, while Coughlin laughed hysterically, using the door frame to hold himself up. “Jesus, guys, I am so sorry, we didn't know you two had finally-” He cringed, and lowered his hand, his face bright red. Beside Lorne, Parrish seemed to shrink, his face pink in the dim light.

“It's fine Reed.” Lorne assured him, and it was, so that did something to alleviate Reed's apparent guilt. Coughlin couldn't seem to stop laughing though.

“Shut up asshole!” Reed kicked him in the shins, knocking him off balance, and Coughlin somehow managed to hit him back pretty well, so another scuffle happened, with Parrish eventually breaking it up, as always. He eventually managed to get them inside and settled, and Coughlin produced beer, so Parrish rolled back the windows and the roof.

Under the stars, with his team safe and sound, he let his fingers curl with David's.


End file.
